Novak Djokovic looks to retain the Rogers Cup title at Montreal – Tennis News
World number two, Novak Djokovic, enters the Rogers Cup in Montreal as the top seed after the withdrawal of the reigning world number one, Roger Federer. The title defence for the Serb superstar will commence against the Aussie
teenager, Bernard Tomic, in the second round of the tournament. He is expected to retain the title and keep a tight fight with the silver medallist, Roger Federer, in the Association of Tennis Professional points’ category.
Djokovic who failed to qualify for the final of the Olympics at London will look to take revenge from the reigning gold medallist, Andy Murray, who is seeded second in the tournament having seen the back of Spanish number one,
Rafael Nadal, after his withdrawal from the tournament due to a knee injury. So, the field is wide open for the two strongest candidates and domination from both of them is expected at the hard courts Montreal, Canada.
Federer stated, “I have always enjoyed playing there but after a long stretch of tournaments, I will need some time to recover. I look forward to coming back to Canada next year."
Nadal updated on his official facebook page “Hi all; wanted to let you know that I won’t be playing Toronto this year. I am not ready to play and I hope to be back in 2014 at that great tournament that has always treated me very
well. I am continuing with my practice. Thanks!”
Spanish number two, David Ferrer, has also withdrawn from the tournament due to undisclosed personal reasons and the former world number one, Andy Roddick, will also be out of action due to fatigue issues. So, the hi-profile tournament
will feature only two hi-fi athletes and one of them is the defending champion so the hype has suddenly dropped off.
However, the battle for the Serb is still on because he has to defend all the points from the tournament to keep a tight fight with Federer for the top rank and keep a distance from the former world number one, Nadal.
Let’s hope the low-profile candidates step up and provide some entertainment in a masters tournament.
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